Air conditioning cabinet



G. C. LAWSON AIR CONDITIONING CABINET April 20, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1953 Gaff/4W0 (14mm ttomeg April 20, 1937.

a. c.- LAWSON AIR CONDITIONING CABINET Filed July 31, 19 33 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Erwentor 25 drawings, wherein:

Patented pr. 2Q, 1937 STATS PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to an improved air-conditioning cabinet particularly adapted for domestic use in conditioning air generally as well as for the dehydrating operation.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an air conditioning apparatus for conditioning in the home or other living quarters, which is convenient, compact, highly efficient and sanitary and may be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide an air-conditioning apparatus which is particularly adapted for domestic service and which may be manufactured at such cost as to bring it within 5 the realm of the average household budget.

Another object is to provide apparatus of the type specified embodying parts of a simplified character which may be conveniently assembled and disassembled for cleaning purposes and for 20 replacement and repair without the services of a skilled mechanician.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent in view of the following description taken in conjunction with the Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a cabinet embodying the features of the present invention with the outer wall partly broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a substantially central transverse section of Fig. 1 taken on the line 2-2 of the latter figure;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a floor or airdistributing plate used with the cabinet, particu- 5 larly showing the arrangement of the heating coils and air-inlet and distributing nozzles;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the air-conditioning unit;

Fig. 4a is a fragmentary detail view of the end 40 cover plate clamp member for said unit;

Fig. 5 is a view in end elevation of the air-conditioning unit; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view in elevation of one of the baflie members or partitions comprised in the 45 unit.

Referring in detail to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1 and 2, the cabinet has an articlecontaining compartment A, defined by side walls 5a, 517,50, and 5d, a top 5e'and a floor 5]. The

50 walls of the cabinet are preferably insulated by any suitable means as at 5g to prevent loss of heat and air. The lower portion of the cabinet is provided with a housing or chamber 6 for airconditioning and circulating apparatus, to be de- 65 scribed. Extending horizontally across the cabinet are a plurality of hanger bars or rods 1, which are removably inserted in sockets 8, open at their upper extremities as at 8a to permit ready removal and replacement of said rods.

At one side of the cabinet is a return air duct 9, which at its upper end communicates with a branch duct 9a, positioned at the top of the compartment A to receive the air direct therefrom and provided with a plurality of inlet openings 0 91). At its lower or outlet end, the said return duct 9 fits into the inlet it of an air-conditioning unit generally indicated at C.

This air-conditioning unit, shown more or less in detail in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, is preferably in the form of a drum and comprises an outer side casing or wall H, a plurality of removable baflie members or partitions l2, one of which is shown 1 in detail in Fig. 6. These members are each provided with spacers I2a and are also formed with a cut-out portion l3, or are in effect segmental and have the said portions or slots l3 alternately positioned with respect to the casing I I, so as to direct the air in a tortuous path through the chambers Ma, Mb, etc., defined by the said partitions. Thus, the air coming in through the inlet I0 passes downwardly through the end chamber I4 into the chamber Ma and up through the latter i and then down through the chamber Mb, and continues this cycle until it reaches the outlet opening l5 of the unit. i,

The chambers Ma, Mb, etc. are preferably packed with suitable air filtering and conditioning medium which may be of any appropriate type for the function to be performed by the cabinet. For generaluse, I prefer to pack said chambers with bronze wool and charcoal. This mixture serves to filter the air and absorb moisture therefrom and also lends itself to impregnation by suitable chemicals if the use of the latter is desired.

It should be understood that these chambers may be provided with any suitable means for humidifying, dehumidifying, fumigating or otherwise treating the air in conformity with the character of work performed, and that the temperature of the unit may be regulated in any suitable manner to assist'in bringing about the desired result.

To facilitate removal and replacement of the be readily removed to permit access to the in- By loosening the screw lBa, the end wall I I a may terior of the casing ll. At the bottom of the condenser is a drain pipe i'i provided with a trap Ila. to permit the moisture of condensation to drain from the unit. The pipe I! preferably 5 drains into a channel or longitudinal slot i'lb formed in the supporting member 26, said channel in turn draining into a drain pan or'like container; lic, slidably supported in guide brackets ll'd at the bottom of the cabinet. a The front end of the unit C is provided with an endwail or head Hb, which is formed with an inlet port or slot l8, and coacting with the said end wall Hb is an adjustable door it provided with a port or slot I9a adapted to coact with slot ill, the said door being secured-under tension against the end wall III) by means of a bolt and spring 20a. To provide for convenient adjustment of the door It, the latter connects through the medium 20 of a connecting rod 2! with a link 22 secured on a rod,36, which is rotatably supported by a pedestal bracket 23 and controlled from the panel board of the cabinet, to be described. By adjusting the slot |9a with respect to the slot i8, .25 the amount of atmospheric air admitted into the conditioning unit C may be accurately controlled or regulated. Thus, if it is,.desired to use the cabinet as a conditioning unit for the air in the room, the slot 98 may be opened to the at- 30 mosphere and the cabinet door, not shown, part-- 1y or fully opened to permit the conditioned air to escape into the room. For drying clothing, or other articles, the slot I8 is preferably fully closed, and is only opened when it is desired to 35 introduce atmospheric or room air into the system.

- The unit C is preferably supported upon an ad-- justable supporting bracket 24 provided with a handle 24a, said bracket being pivotally mounted 40 in bearing lugs 25 provided on the frame member 26. By this means, the unit may be readily elevated so that the inlet l0 telescopes into the end of the return conduit 9, and, conversely, may be readily lowered when it is desired to remove it .45 from the housing 6, the latter being provided with a door 25 to permit removal of said unit.

The outlet l5 of the unit C telescopes into an annular fan housing 21, note particularly Fig. 2

in which a fan 21a is mounted, the latter being .55 The annular filter chamber 21b is preferably packed with a suitable filtering and/or conditioning medium such as bronze wool or the like, and acts as a further means of conditioning and treating the air and precipitati g moisture there- 60 from prior to its admission iinto the cabinet. The lowermost portion of t e chamber 211) is provided with a drain pipe 21c which also drains into the channel I'Ib. v

The entire assembly, including the unit C, mo-- 85 tor 28, fan housing 2'! and chamber 21b, is

mounted on a frame member or beam 26a anchored in rubber or like resilient mountings 25b.

At the bottom of the compartment A, I preferably dispose a baflle or air-distributing plate 70 3|. -This plate forms the upper boundary or ceiling oil the chamber 30 and is preferably provided with a plurality of nozzle members 32. These members, as shown, are arranged in groups and are formed with curved segmental bai'ile caps 75 32a which serve to deflect air in such a manner that it travels upwardly with a circular movement'and is thus substantially evenly distributed throughout the drying chamber or compartment A.

Within the chamber 30 a plurality of heating coils 33 are disposed, to heat the air flowing upwardlye into the drying chamber. These coils may be of any suitable size and capacity and may be provided with suitable controls or rheostats to vary the temperature as desired. At the exterior of the cabinet is a suitable contiol panel 34 provided with suitable indicia and a control handle 35, which is connected to the rod 35. A switch 31 for the fan motor is provided, and a further switch 38 for the heating 'coil circuit is also provided.

To provide a reliable and accurate means for cutting off the apparatus after the clothing or other articles in the compartment A have been fully dried, I preferably utilize a type of switch member which automatically cuts ofi through the dehydrating action of a wet article in contact therewith. This switch unit is shown in Fig. 1 and consists of switch wires 40 and ll, which are the unconnected terminal extremities. of the switch circuit and may be of relatively fine wire and are woundupon one of the rods 8 or other suitable .core in the form of a coil 42. These wires and M are connected in series with a relay switch or the like, not shown, which in turn is connected into the main circuit. The coil extremities of the switch wires arepartly or wholly uninsulated and may be spaced a very slight distance apart from each other when winding the coilfl. At one end of the coil 52, I mount a clamp 43. The relay switch is organized to close the main circuit when energized and open said circuit when de-energized. A suitable stepdown transformer, also not shown, is interposed in the switch circuit to reduce the voltage from the main line to a point commensurate with the switch circuit.

The operation of the automatic switch is as follows: When a wet article of clothing .or a cloth or the like is clamped on the coil G2, the wires MI and M are shorted and form a conductor for the electric current thereby energizing the relay switch and maintaining the circuit closed. As the article becomes dry, the shorting action ceases and the relay switch is tie-energized and the main circuit is broken, stopping the machine. The

lit

initial moisture content of the cloth clamped on the coil 42 may be regulated so that it will cease its short-circuiting action over-varying periods of time, and thus ensure that the remaining clothing in the'compartment A is fully dried before the circuit is broken.

From the foregoing, the operation of the apparatus will be readily understood. Assuming that the cabinet is to be used for drying clothing, the latter would be hung upon the rods 1 in the compartment A. The motor is then started and a circulation of air is caused to travel in a cycle including the duct 29, chamber 30, compartment A, passing out from said compartment through outlets 9b into the outlet duct 9a and return duct 9, and from the latter into the air-conditioning unit 0 through the inlet ill. The air at this point may have a certain amount of atmospheric or room air admittedthereto, if desired, by regulating the opening 18 of the unit 0. The air passes into the unitC and is conditioned and treated in the said unit and thence passes into the auxiliary treating chamber 21b. From this chamber, the air passes into the duct 28 and repeats the cycle.

When it is desired to use the cabinet or apparatus as an air-conditioning unit, the door to compartment A (not shown) may be opened and the control knob or handle 35 turned so that the slot i6 is open to the room or outside atmosphere, the coils 33 serving to control the temperature of the conditioned air and the unit C serving to filter and humidify or dehumidify the air as required. In this connection, it will ,be understood 10 that moisture or water at a suitable temperature may be supplied to the unit C by any desired means, not shown, but obvious to the average layman.

The unit may also be used for fumigating and otherwise treating articles of clothing, as will be readily understood. The entire cabinet may be made in sizes suitable for domestic as well as commercial use and is compact and requires very little space as compared with the larger installa tions. The apparatus has been found highly efficlent and may be readily and accurately controlled.

I claim:

1. In a conditioning unit of the class described,

including an air cleaning chamber, a fan and an air heating chamber, said cleaning chamber comprising a drum having a plurality of battles therein separating the drum into a circuitous chamber, means in said chamber to accumulate foreign material being carried through the chamber by the air, said fan being connected to one end of said chamber and adapted to circulate air through the chamber and deliver said air to said heating chamber.

2. In a conditioning unit of the class described, including an air cleaning chamber, a fan and an air heating chamber, said cleaning chamber comprising a drum having a plurality of baffles therein separating the drum into a circuitous chamber, means in said chamber to accumulate foreign material being carried through the chamber by the air, said fan being connected to one end of said chamber and adapted to circulate air through the chamber and deliver said air to said heating chamber, said drum and fan being removable from the heating chamber and said drum being separable from said fan and having a removable wall through which the air cleaning material can be removed.

GO'I'I'FRID C. LAWSON. 

